Abstract

In response to the prospects and challenges of emerging digital communication technologies, higher education level courses are increasingly being developed to address the ethical implications of these technologies. To this end, an undergraduate course has been developed that emphasizes the importance of process-oriented and case-based approaches to the ethical implications of data-driven communication technologies such as X (Twitter), digital crowdsourcing, smart cities, and face/emotion recognition. The course is structured around a model of case-based learning; starting with basic concepts and theories given by the instructor. This is followed by collaborative problem-solving sessions where students and the instructor work together to consider responses to problems that are relevant to particular digital communication technologies and of interest to course participants. This chapter attempts to motivate the adoption of this approach to teach the ethics of digital communication technologies. The first section offers a conceptual take on digital communication technologies and highlights the ethical implications of the process of datafication that underlies many of these data-driven platforms. In addition, the rationale for doing applied ethics together with media and communication students is explained. The second section briefly describes the design of the course.